topic Re: No forex fees, no annual fee in Credit Cards

No forex fees, no annual fee

LionLaw — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 23:54:12 GMT

Hey all. I've got a friend who's going to be spending a lot of time in Japan, and so he's looking for a CC with no foreign transaction fees. Ideally, he'd like to find one with no annual fee; are there any such cards out there? If not, what are your recommendations for good cards with no forex fees?

Re: No forex fees, no annual fee

Open123 — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 23:57:08 GMT

B of A Travel Rewards. No annual fee, no forex fee, emv chip and 1.5% on all spending.

Re: No forex fees, no annual fee

SnackTrader — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 00:03:59 GMT

Just a warning - Japan is very much still a cash carrying country (they have coins worth $5 in common circulation, which should tell you something about how much cash they carry) and credit card acceptance is actually very low in many parts of the country and among smaller stores.

On that note, Capital One Cash Rewards for excellent credit has no AF, no Forex and 1.5% cash back.

Re: No forex fees, no annual fee

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 00:35:06 GMT

Penfed, Discover, pretty sure Crap1 dropped forex for nearly all their cards to name a few.

Edit: Just so you know, despite typically Discover being bad in other countries, it is actually partnered with two networks: JCB (Japan) and China Union Pay so it has wider acceptance there.

Re: No forex fees, no annual fee

CreditScholar — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 02:39:34 GMT

@Open123 wrote:
B of A Travel Rewards. No annual fee, no forex fee, emv chip and 1.5% on all spending.

This is pretty much his only option, unless he's eligible for PenFed. Some of their cards have no AF and no forex charges.

Re: No forex fees, no annual fee

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 02:50:25 GMT

@CreditScholar wrote:
@Open123 wrote:
B of A Travel Rewards. No annual fee, no forex fee, emv chip and 1.5% on all spending.
This is pretty much his only option, unless he's eligible for PenFed. Some of their cards have no AF and no forex charges.

What is wrong with Cap1 and Discover?

But increasingly, consumers -- especially wealthy and frequently flying consumers -- see offers that don't charge transaction fees. Pentagon Federal Credit Union announced in October 2011 that it was joining Capital One in eliminating foreign transaction fees on all of its credit cards. In November 2011, Discover joined in, lopping the fee from all its cards.

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card-foreign-transaction-fees-disappearing-1280.php#ixzz2V7MNL6zi

Re: No forex fees, no annual fee

CreditScholar — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 03:10:50 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@CreditScholar wrote:
@Open123 wrote:
B of A Travel Rewards. No annual fee, no forex fee, emv chip and 1.5% on all spending.
This is pretty much his only option, unless he's eligible for PenFed. Some of their cards have no AF and no forex charges.
What is wrong with Cap1 and Discover?

But increasingly, consumers -- especially wealthy and frequently flying consumers -- see offers that don't charge transaction fees. Pentagon Federal Credit Union announced in October 2011 that it was joining Capital One in eliminating foreign transaction fees on all of its credit cards. In November 2011, Discover joined in, lopping the fee from all its cards.

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card-foreign-transaction-fees-disappearing-1280.php#ixzz2V7MNL6zi

Discover has much more limited acceptance than MC/Visa. This may be less true in certain parts of Asia where Discover/JCB has a strong presence, but if I had to carry only one no-forex card for travelling I'd choose MC/Visa before Discover.

As for CapOne, I forgot they offered a no AF/no forex card. Other than their 2% Venture card (which has an AF), for me they're off the radar. I forget they even exist most of the time.

Re: No forex fees, no annual fee

HiLine — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 03:13:58 GMT

@CreditScholar wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@CreditScholar wrote:
@Open123 wrote:
B of A Travel Rewards. No annual fee, no forex fee, emv chip and 1.5% on all spending.
This is pretty much his only option, unless he's eligible for PenFed. Some of their cards have no AF and no forex charges.
What is wrong with Cap1 and Discover?

But increasingly, consumers -- especially wealthy and frequently flying consumers -- see offers that don't charge transaction fees. Pentagon Federal Credit Union announced in October 2011 that it was joining Capital One in eliminating foreign transaction fees on all of its credit cards. In November 2011, Discover joined in, lopping the fee from all its cards.

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card-foreign-transaction-fees-disappearing-1280.php#ixzz2V7MNL6zi

Discover has much more limited acceptance than MC/Visa. This may be less true in certain parts of Asia where Discover/JCB has a strong presence, but if I had to carry only one no-forex card for travelling I'd choose MC/Visa before Discover.

As for CapOne, I forgot they offered a no AF/no forex card. Other than their 2% Venture card (which has an AF), for me they're off the radar. I forget they even exist most of the time.

+1 to all counts.

Re: No forex fees, no annual fee

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 03:17:19 GMT

@CreditScholar wrote:

As for CapOne, I forgot they offered a no AF/no forex card. Other than their 2% Venture card (which has an AF), for me they're off the radar. I forget they even exist most of the time.

That's sort of funny, because at one stage no Forex was their major, and at the time almost unique, benefit. All of their cards of no Forex, and most are no AF.

Re: No forex fees, no annual fee

CreditScholar — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 03:20:01 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@CreditScholar wrote:
As for CapOne, I forgot they offered a no AF/no forex card. Other than their 2% Venture card (which has an AF), for me they're off the radar. I forget they even exist most of the time.
That's sort of funny, because at one stage no Forex was their major, and at the time almost unique, benefit. All of their cards of no Forex, and most are no AF.

Their cards are frankly too low-end for me. This is why I forget they even exist most of the time. I'm sure their products work for many, but I don't give them much of a thought since there are much better cards out there for my needs.

Re: No forex fees, no annual fee

Cageym — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 03:27:23 GMT

I spend 90% of my year in Asia (not Japan though) and Discover is not big over here. Cap1 may be considered low end but with no FTF I don't really care what other people think.

Re: No forex fees, no annual fee

CreditScholar — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 03:28:56 GMT

@Cageym wrote:
I spend 90% of my year in Asia (not Japan though) and Discover is not big over here. Cap1 may be considered low end but with no FTF I don't really care what other people think.

+1. If it works for you, then use it. That's the beauty of choice in a free market. You can choose the products that work for you, while discarding the ones that don't.

Re: No forex fees, no annual fee

Open123 — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 03:37:30 GMT

All things being equal, and without any differentiating rewards, the BofA's EMV chip makes it the best option amongst the card mentioned. In my view, it's better to have the chip and not need it, then to need it and not have it.

It's pretty unusual for a no fee card to have no forex, greater than 1.5% rewards and the chip all in one.

Re: No forex fees, no annual fee

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 03:41:17 GMT

@Open123 wrote:
All things being equal, and without any differentiating rewards, the BofA's EMV chip makes it the best option amongst the card mentioned. In my view, it's better to have the chip and not need it, then to need it and not have it.

It's pretty unusual for a no fee card to have no forex, greater than 1.5% rewards and the chip all in one.

Right, but the same logic suggests something like the Penfed as well/instead, as it's better to have chip&pin and not need it....!

But that is just 1% outside the grocery category.

Re: No forex fees, no annual fee

Open123 — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 03:43:09 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Open123 wrote:
All things being equal, and without any differentiating rewards, the BofA's EMV chip makes it the best option amongst the card mentioned. In my view, it's better to have the chip and not need it, then to need it and not have it.

It's pretty unusual for a no fee card to have no forex, greater than 1.5% rewards and the chip all in one.
Right, but the same logic suggests something like the Penfed as well/instead, as it's better to have chip&pin and not need it....!
But that is just 1% outside the grocery category.

Absolutely!

I wasn't even aware Penfed had a "chip & pin" option. I thought it was just no forex.

Re: No forex fees, no annual fee

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 04:28:36 GMT

It's chip and pin that defaults to chip & sig where possible (which is a stupid choice) but it is chip&pin when needed.